When performing dumbbell bench presses, does changing the hand position from pronation at the bottom to neutral or supination at the top have any affect on the chest? I've heard claims that doing this targets the inner chest.

I think it would be more helpful to just include both dumbbell presses and flyes, but I guess if you're pressed (pun intended) for time then combining the hand positions in one exercise might help.

Actually, come to think about it, I don't think it makes a difference since it's mainly the biceps that supinate the forearm right? And since the dumbbells' actually weight is close to your hands your biceps wouldn't even have to do much work to spin them.

It seems that dumbbell flye does (in addition to muscles worked by each exercise) the short head of the biceps brachii, while cable flye (crossover) does (again, in addition to...) the pectoralis minor, rhomboids, levator scapulae and latissimus dorsi.

But it is true that there is no particular inner pec muscle separate from the pectoralis major. In fact, working the inside (in order to get a noticeable crease) would only make one less balanced.

DubDub wrote:But it is true that there is no particular inner pec muscle separate from the pectoralis major. In fact, working the inside (in order to get a noticeable crease) would only make one less balanced

It is important to hit different areas of the chest, as you do not want a lopsided or under-developed chest. For any upper chest development, you should do incline movements, such as incline press or incline Flyes. For lower development, it is said to do decline movements, but flat bench works my lower chest just fine. For outer development, wide grip bench presses and dumbbell flyes. Just the opposite for inner chest development, you should do close grip bench presses.

I thought that I might be able to kill two birds with one stone, and not have to do a separate exercise for the inner chest. But if not, I'll still do them, since I do full-body workouts and want to keep them under 1 - 1.5 hours

I don't see how he says that this does inner chest, the pecs aren't even a target of that exercise. What may be happening is that close grip pushes his pecs together more, so he is mistaking that for the extra squeeze one gets at the top of a bench press rep. Then again, I've just realized that I have basically no qualifications in this area, so no one should listen to me over him. All I know is, there isn't a separate muscle for inner chest, and the pectoralis only has two heads, sternal and clavicular, which cut it horizontally, not vertically.

I think I've overstepped the bounds of what my (limited) amount of training allows me to say, so I'll be quiet for a bit.

Bodybuilders are notorious for altering/modifying exercises to target specific parts of a muscle's structure. If it isn't effective, one wonders why they continue to do it. Pro bodybuilders have little use for training methods that don't work.

A good way to train if you dont want to do flys separately is to do db presses and allow the dumbbells to drift outward as you raise them. This simulates a fly in every way except with vastly larger weight.

For upper chest, you can simply lower the bar to your upper chest and get similar results as inclines. In fact, they might be better since the horizontal motion excludes the shoulders more.

These are both per doctor Squat and can be read about more under the articles section.

Stephen Johnson wrote:
They aren't the target, but they are a synergist.

True, but if the point is to work the pecs then shouldn't the bench press/incline bench press (for which the pecs are the target) be better suited? I still think he's confusing added muscle squeeze with actual work done.

Obviously there is no seperate inner chest muscle. I was refering to inner portion of the sternal and clavicular pectorals, near the point where these muscles attach to the sternum. While it's impossible to contract only a portion of any muscle, some exercises seem to shift more emphasis to specific areas.

I don't think close-grips or dumbbell flys are a good way to targer this area, because there's no resistance at the top of the lift. The weight is pushing straight down, not pulling your arms apart as in a cable crossover.

Of course, it's debatable whether this type of stumuli is neccessary for well rounded pectoral development (I haven't done regular isolation work for my chest in works). My point is merely that crossovers alow you to targer your chest in a very different way than presses and dumbbell flyes.